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Industries / Wholesale & distribution
Wholesale & distribution · Custom workflow design

Turn purchase orders into accurate allocations and dispatch work

Connect customer purchase orders, account terms, supplier availability and warehouse instructions. Keep unusual pack sizes, partial supply and account exceptions visible.

For Wholesale operations manager, sales administrator or warehouse lead

Explore three real work situations ↓
How it could work

Start with a situation you recognise.

Illustrative designs to scope with your team. Select a scenario, then follow the normal path and the exception.

An emailed PO uses the customer’s product codes

Finished result

An order ready for authorised allocation, with unresolved lines clearly separated.

  1. 01Extract purchase-order lines
  2. 02Map account-specific codes
  3. 03Convert approved pack sizes
  4. 04Prepare allocation
When something does not fit

One customer code maps to two variants, or the requested carton size is obsolete.

What happens next

Hold that line for clarification while preparing the unambiguous remainder.

Inputs, checks and measurement
What starts the workflow
A customer sends a PDF order with cartons, units and their own item references.
Before taking action
Check duplicate PO numbers, units, contract prices and credit status.
Measure the change
Human touches per PO and lines corrected before dispatch.
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A contract customer needs a split delivery

Finished result

A quote that states quantities, sources, dates and exclusions the customer can accept.

  1. 01Load account terms
  2. 02Check source availability
  3. 03Cost delivery options
  4. 04Prepare versioned quote
When something does not fit

Only part of a minimum-order quantity is available before the required date.

What happens next

Present the approved split or alternative, with commercial approval where terms change.

Inputs, checks and measurement
What starts the workflow
A quote request combines account pricing with products held at different locations.
Before taking action
Keep freight, minimum order rules and substitutions explicit for each shipment.
Measure the change
Quote preparation time and post-acceptance scope corrections.
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A regular account stops ordering a usual line

Finished result

A relevant recovery task or eligible contact with the outcome tracked.

  1. 01Compare purchase history
  2. 02Exclude known closures and disputes
  3. 03Prepare relevant follow-up
  4. 04Record response and outcome
When something does not fit

A seasonal buyer looks inactive, or an unresolved service complaint explains the gap.

What happens next

Route service problems to their owner and exclude unsuitable promotional follow-ups.

Inputs, checks and measurement
What starts the workflow
A scheduled review finds a gap against that account’s own order pattern.
Before taking action
Use current availability, account permissions and an agreed contact policy.
Measure the change
Handled account gaps; incremental contribution only with a suitable comparison.
Map this to my businessEstimate the value
Fit before features

When custom work makes sense.

Configure existing ERP order entry first. Add custom work when customer formats, account rules or supplier allocations still require repeated copying between systems.

Connect the records you already use

  • Email and customer ordering portals
  • ERP, price books and credit records
  • Warehouse and supplier availability

Access, data quality and write permissions are checked during scoping. Integration availability depends on your systems.

Go deeper

The systems behind these scenarios.

Purchase order processing and warehouse fulfilment automationQuote-to-cash across sales, delivery and financeB2B reorder gaps into useful account-manager tasks
Controls, responsibility and recovery

Agree who can change rules, approve exceptions and authorise each write. Keep a history of source records, rule versions and action results. Detect partial failures, reconcile before retrying and assign unresolved cases to a named owner.

AI can extract, classify and prepare information. Validated rules and agreed permissions govern consequential actions; missing evidence triggers review. Test normal cases, exceptions and recovery against acceptance criteria before launch.

Related operating experience

See the foundations running at G3.

G3 is our founder’s retail and venue business in Melbourne. Explore relevant capabilities and their boundaries; your industry’s rules still need their own design and validation.

Stock, catalogue & pricingCustomer follow-up

Questions worth asking first.

Start with a sanitised example, the result you need and one awkward case. We will map a bounded first implementation.

Can customers keep emailing their purchase orders?

Yes, if their formats can be read reliably. Ambiguous lines need an explicit review path rather than a guessed SKU or quantity.

Will it release orders on credit hold?

Only the authority and release rules agreed with finance apply. A parsed order is not payment or credit approval.

How do you handle customer product codes and different carton sizes?

Use an approved mapping from each customer code to the exact sellable variant and unit of measure. Cartons, inner packs and individual units need explicit conversion rules. An unknown alias, discontinued pack or conflicting match goes to order review before quantity or price is accepted.

Can one purchase order become several deliveries?

The workflow can retain the original order while tracking allocated, dispatched and outstanding quantities separately. Agree partial-delivery permission, minimum quantities, freight charges and customer notice rules first. A supplier ETA change should identify the affected lines and commitments, rather than silently changing the whole order.

What would a first order-processing pilot need?

Start with one customer format, representative purchase orders and the relevant price book, SKU mappings and credit rules. Include a duplicate, a changed order and a short-supply case. Check ERP access and warehouse acknowledgement before enabling a defined set of order-entry or dispatch actions.

Do we need an ongoing Canvo subscription?

No mandatory Canvo subscription. An agreed implementation includes 12 months of support for the delivered workflows, defects and minor compatibility changes to existing integrations. Optional proactive care and further development are scoped separately. Software, hosting and API costs remain separate.

Your operation, your rules

Bring the handoff that keeps going wrong.

Free workflow review. A$950 ex GST diagnostic. A bounded first deployment from A$4,900 ex GST, with 12 months of included support for the agreed implementation.

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Advice and implementation

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